Marvel Comics has created some of the most popular characters in the history of the medium. Heroes like Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, Thor, the X-Men, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and many others have become icons. They’ve been getting praised for years and get the credit they deserve for the success of the House of Ideas. However, the thing that makes Marvel so beloved, even when the books are mostly so-so like right now, is that there are loads of amazing heroes out there, ones that might not get the credit they deserve but have forged their own legacy.
However, sometimes, these lower-level heroes will break containment and reach the highest levels of the Marvel Universe. They go from niche characters to superstars and new fans go back to read their old stories, discovering how great these heroes always were. These seven Marvel heroes were able to finally get the credit they deserve, showing the breadth of the Marvel Universe.
7) Bucky Barnes
Bucky Barnes has become massively popular in the 21st century, but take it from somewhere who’s been around the fandom for closer to 40 years than 10 – people used to mock Bucky mercilessly. He was an old school, one dimensional sidekick and there used to be an idea that he was going to stay dead forever. However, his return as the Winter Soldier made fans realize how important he had always been to the character of Captain America in particular and the Marvel Universe in general. While he hasn’t had a lot of success in the 2020s, he’s finally been given the credit he deserves as one of the greatest sidekicks ever.
6) Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel is a venerable Marvel mantle, but it hasn’t always been popular. Mar-Vell was a solid B-list hero, his death was a major event in Marvel history, and he created a legacy that numerous heroes would take up. Former Captains Marvel like Monica Rambeau and Genis-Vell (sorry, Phyla, but no one really ever cared about you; you weren’t even an Avenger ever) had their day in the sun and faded away. However, putting Carol Danvers in the mantle and pushing her to the top of the Marvel Universe was the turning point, both for her and for the red and blue mantle. Carol had long been in the same position of her mentor, but finally got the push she deserved as the good Captain. While we can debate how successful she’s been in recent years, her becoming Captain Marvel made both her and the mantle into A-listers.
5) Black Panther
Black Panther is one of the most well-known Marvel heroes around, but it wasn’t always that way. T’Challa was always an important character to the superhero community, having forged numerous important relationship with many heroes and villains, but he was a B to C-lister for years. However, Marvel decided to pair him with Storm to make him more popular (and because they are both African; that’s pretty much the extent of their original reasoning; you can Google it and see Dwayne McDuffie saying that in interviews). From the end of Civil War on, he was put into more titles, and was given his own series for the first time in six years in 2016. The MCU made him even bigger and he’s become an A-lister that fans love.
4) Spider-Woman
Spider-Woman was introduced in the 1970s, when Marvel decided that feminism was the way of the future (there was still a lot of misogyny – the Silver Age Marvel Universe was built on it – but not as much). Jessica Drew was given her own series and and become a C-list hero who would fade away in the 1980s, being replaced by Julia Carpenter. She would return to prominence thanks to Brian Michael Bendis loving her and was a key part of the rise of Marvel in the ’00s. Fans appreciated the hero for the first time in years and she finally got her flowers.
3) Cyclops
Cyclops was the X-Men’s first leader and has spent just about his entire existence as a team leader. However, that ignores the decade when he was the one-dimensional boy scout, with numerous major X-Men becoming much more popular than him. However, Grant Morrison’s New X-Men run and the Joss Whedon/John Cassaday run on Astonishing X-Men put their focus on him, pushing him as the team’s most competent member. Since then, he’s finally started to get a devoted fanbase (there’s an entire “Cyclops Was Right” subreddit) and even fans who didn’t like him back in the day have good things to say about him. He’s always been important, but he’s finally popular as well.
2) Luke Cage
Luke Cage was another example of Marvel going with the trends of the ’70s; in his case, blaxploitation films. Cage teamed up with another ’70s trend hero in Iron Fist (kung-fu movies were huge in the decade of disco), becoming the Heroes for Hire. He was never popular, having a solid fandom, but couldn’t hang for long in the Marvel Universe of the ’80s and ’90s. Much like Spider-Woman, the ’00s were the moment that fans noticed him again, thanks to Cage, a Marvel MAX miniseries from Brian Azzarello and Richards Corben, and Brian Michael Bendis being a fan. He’s led the Avengers and Thunderbolts, and has a legion of fans who want Marvel to push him again.
1) Hawkeye
Hawkeye has always been one of the most underrated Avengers, a B-list favorite that readers have enjoyed for a long time. However, it wouldn’t be until his death in “Avengers Disassembled: Chaos” that fans would realize how great he was as a character; absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all. His return as Ronin was quite beloved and his debut in the MCU made Marvel put even more focus on him. Readers who only liked him before fell in love with him, and we got one of the best Marvel series ever from his run by Matt Fraction. He’s now an icon, which he’s deserved to be for decades.
What Marvel hero do you think finally got the attention they deserve? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!